Tag: spells

Unlike a cereal box, there’s no tangible expiration date on our spells. However, if you’re like me, you can feel when the efficacy of your spell wanes. It’s as if the threads that connect you to your spell begin to snap and like old bread, the spell begins to feel stale.

Then there are times, like today, that I get solid validation that a spell needs to be rebuffed after knowing just how long a spell will last when creating it.

When I laid down our protection spells and wards when we moved in, I knew in my heart that they were going to last us the year. The contract on our house was for a year, and I knew that nothing was going to keep us from seeing that year through. So, when March started coming round again, I got that tugging feeling I get when I know that a spell has run its course.

Today, the last cords connecting the spell to me were forcefully severed, and it’s definitely time to start preforming them again for the next year.

I do many acts of protection on my home, almost to the point of redundancy. While each spell is a different aspect of protection, or a different way to protect, the ultimate goal of each of my protection spells is the same: healthy and happy family, hospitable and safe home, financial abundance and resources, and safety from “outside” influences.

The idea behind my protection spells isn’t just to keep my things secure but all elements of my life that I feel are necessary to my and my family’s ultimate happiness. All my stuff is replaceable, but my family, our trust in our home, our faith in our safety and financial status, cannot be so easily recouped- and unless you’ve suffered the violating loss of those things before, you might not quite understand how important protecting them is.

We have, and I will never allow it to happen again.

So, today, when my husband told me he’d seen strange footprints in the snow around our house, I knew it was a sign that our wards needed to be restored.

The heaviest spell around my home, currently, is also the only protection spell that will never need to be rebuffed. However, it is a three part spell that takes three years to complete, which means the second round is upon us.

It’s also the first one I want to complete before moving on to the others.

I’ve conditioned this spell for my home, but it can be changed to suit your own living arrangements. The only caution I’d give is not use this spell if you’re not happy with your current living situation. If you plan to move within the next three years, this spell is probably too potent for you- right now. When you’ve found your “forever” or “long-term” home, this spell is the one you want to christen it with (and of course, use to celebrate the first two anniversaries with).

The spell ingredients are the same, no matter what year you’re in. The only difference is what you do with them. Find out how to make the Protection Candles and Sand Mix here.

Open your circle the way you usually do. For me, it’s lighting one black candle and one white. Light your protection candle and let the candle burn until there’s a nice puddle of liquid wax on the top (this takes anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour).

I could say that I’m a very studious and diligent witch who meditates on the flames until the puddle is just the right depth, but I’m not. The candle sits on my stove, the area I consider my home’s hearth, burning while I preform the duties of a domestic witch. This means while my candle is burning, and my spell is beginning, I’m cleansing my home. A circle, to me, isn’t just encompassing of a two foot space, but my entire sacred space (i.e. my home) and I like laying protection spells down with a clean energy slate; that means a fresh cleanse during the mundane “waiting” portion of the spell.

You may find you’re one of those witches who likes to just sit and imagine the spell working- more power to you!

Once the candle has burned to a nice puddle, it’s time to start working the spell. Each year, you’ll want to save a bit of the candle from the year before- lighting it and using the flame to light the next year’s candle. The remnants of the previous year’s candle can be buried anywhere on the property, further amplifying the spell’s permanence.

Year 1:

After the candle has puddled sufficiently, take the iron spike and dip the very end of it into the wax. While it is still wet on the railroad spike, dip the wax into the sand mix. Do this for each of the four spikes.

Letting the candle burn, bring the sand mix and the spikes outside. Finding the cardinal corners of your property (North, South, East, and West) walk to the Northern most corner. Drive a spike into the ground just inside your property line close to the edge. Walk from the Northern corner to the Southern Corner in as straight a line as possible, and place another spike just inside your property line close to the edge. In order for me to do this, with the awesome way my house is positioned on the property, I simply walked through my front door to my back door and out into my yard. You should be able to now see an imaginary line running across your property.

From the Southern Corner, walk to the Eastern most and repeat the process of driving a spike into the ground just inside your property line close to the edge. Walk to the Western Corner in as straight a line as possible, and repeat the staking. To walk this one, I kept as close to the house as I could (as there’s no way to go from the left side of my lawn to the right without running dead-smack into my house), so the line wasn’t perfectly straight but it was enough that it felt right. Do what works for you and don’t stress the semantics. There will now be two imaginary lines running across your property, meeting in a cross at the center.

Take the Protection Sand Mix and spread it from the North Spike to the East Spike to the South Spike to the West Spike and back to the North. This creates a diamond shape on my property. It may create a square for you- the shape matters not. Just make sure you connect the spikes to one another some how.

You’ve now walked the cross of the spell, and the perimeter of the spell- for me, I see the lines from the spikes as bright blue electricity, and the sand mixture creating a large protective energy field. I have no idea why I see them this way, but it works.

Let the candle burn until it’s almost out (with just enough to light one more time for the next year’s candle)- this may take a few days depending on the type of candle you’ve made. Mine takes about a week of steady burning to burn down to just enough to light one more time if I make a pillar, but only a few hours if I make a votive. The spell is done and sits now for an entire year.

The lines connecting the spikes across from one anotehr, and the energy field that is created when all four are connected by sand. If I was better at technology, this might be a better drawing- but I’m an 80 year old trapped in a 30-something body. *shrug*

Year 2:

Like Year One, you’ll be dipping the next set of Railroad Spikes into the puddle of the wax. This time, instead of dipping the tips of the spikes, you’ll be dipping the head of the spike. As the wax is wet on the head, dip it into the sand mixture.

This time, you’ll be marking the actual corners of your property, instead of the Cardinal Corners, at their upper and lower most outer points. You can start in whichever corner you prefer. For me, it’s always the right uppermost by force of habit. Then I move to the right lowermost, the left lowermost, and up to the left uppermost corner. From there, I make sure to walk back to the right upper corner, creating a square link between the spikes with my path.

Using the Protection Sand Mix, I walk and sprinkle from the right upper corner of the property to the left lower corner of the property- bisecting the land diagonally. I then go to the lower right corner, spreading sand all the way up to the upper left corner- again, bisecting the land diagonally. As with Year One, there is now an X, or cross, in the middle of the land. This is important, as it’s a physical sigil representing your space. They don’t say “X” marks the spot for no reason!

The spikes now form a square barrier of blue light, while the sand amplifies the magick and creates and even bigger bubble than before.

Year 3:

Unlike the two prior years, the candle wax will not be placed onto the spikes at all- nor will the Railroad Irons be placed on the edge of the property.

Instead, Year Three is considered the “grounding year”. The Spikes will rest on the outside edges of the house, well inside the property line.

In Year One, we’re using the magick of the Cardinal Corners. North, South, East, and West, are the magnetic energies of the Earth and her position in the Celestial Heavens, harnessed by science and used to guide adventurers home for centuries. We start with the Cardinal Corners as a devotion to not only Earth’s natural magick, but our ambition to create this place (the one inside the spikes) as our landmark- our North Star in the night sky. Year one is about protecting our energy and trust, creating a home from the brick and mortar.

In Year two, now that we’ve established this ground as ours- this place as our home, we follow the guides devised by man. The property line is an invisible limitation bought by money, and protected by money; therefore, year two is about securing the financial resources needed to maintain those borders. We do this after Year One, because the permanency of the spell demands that we must love our home in order to properly work for it.

In Year Three, once the financial resources of the home has been maintained and the house has grown into a source of memories and love- it’s time to make sure the home stays forever connected to the magick of the land- and that the connection stays healthy and happy for as long as we wish it to. Year Three is the finality of the trifecta, securing the physical health of the home and the inhabitants.

Tying the house down like an anchor in Year Three

This is done by spiking the ground near the four corners of the house itself. Once the candle has melted into a nice puddle, bring it to your front door. Set it outside on your porch with the remaining four of your railroad spikes. Grabbing one of the spikes walk from the porch to one of the corners of your home (I start with the upper right corner as usual). Spike the ground about a foot away from the edge of the home. Walk back to the candle and the spikes- grabbing another and walking again to the other front corner opposite (for me, it’d be the upper left corner of my house). Spike the ground, again, about a foot away from the edge of the home.

Walk back to the candle again. This time, pick up the remaining two spikes and the candle, and walk it through your house to your back porch (or if you don’t have access through your home to your back yard, walk around the house). Place your candle down by your back door (or in the middle of the back of your home) along with the two remaining spikes.

Take one, and walk it to the corner of the back of the house. I again, would do the right side first- drive the spike into the ground about a foot away from the home. Walk back to the candle, and grab the final spike- walking to the last corner of the home. Again, drive it into the ground about a foot away from the home.

It may seem pointless to continue walking back to the candle, or to drag the candle through (or around) the house to the back yard, but this is symbolically important. The connection between walking to the candle and the edge of the house represents the connection between the outside of the home and the inside. We cannot live happily in a home that is decrepit and falling down, while at the same time, we will not maintain a home’s condition if we are unhappy, broke, or unhealthy inside it. The two are symbiotic in relationship and totally dependent on one another- therefore, the connection must be represented in the spell. I do not just want to protect the home’s physical presence, but the occupants’ as well.

Then, taking sand and candle (this is best done with another person) walk along the perimeter of the home, staying about a foot away. Drip the wax every few feet, and sprinkle the sand as you continue around. Bring the candle inside and let it burn all the way down. Your spell is complete, and your home will remain yours, happy and secure- for as long as you wish it to.

This spell is time-consuming but simple for a reason. It’s my personal belief that complication in spellwork is only for show (and Pinterest Aesthetics)- but real work, for me, is done with intention. To focus on that intention, I need to pay attention to my thoughts and actions during a spell- not a complicated or intricate process that distracts more than it enhances. You may find that you like more showy and intricate spells to connect to your witchiness- and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I urge anyone and everyone to add their own flare to any spell, as it is only our uniqueness that allows them to connect to us in the first place. Never feel you have to follow my spells (or anyone’s for that matter) in the same way they’re written. And, if you do change it, I’d be honored to know how and why, as you might just inspire an idea or change in my own practice!!

Taken from Hoodoo, Native American, and Egyptian protection work, this spell is potent and is not recommended be used for homes that will not be permanent (or at least long-term) residences. As long as the spikes stay in the ground, the spell’s efficacy will not wane. Each layer of the spell increases and amplifies the one before and after it, and the physical presence of the iron in the ground at strategic points maintains the metaphysical and physical barriers permanently.

To use this spell for a home that does not have physical property, follow the same directions, but instead of a physical ground- use pots filled with soil and drive the spikes into those. Homes do not have to have yards to be protected or permanent!

Year Two of this spell falls during the New Moon for me, but it can be preformed during whatever is best for the witch. It also does not have to be a full calendar year in between the the Years, either. It can be a lunar year, or whatever medium of time you follow- as long as it’s significant to you. This time I’ve done it by the day, whereas in our last home, I did it per the Lunar Cycle.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for more protection magick this month! What do you do to protect your home and loved ones?